Friday Night Lights by Kyler Kring

            “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” is the motto repeated several times throughout the seasons of Friday Night Lights. It’s mostly said by Coach Taylor before football games to motivate his players to use their hearts to play to their fullest potential. You can also apply this statement to anything in life, not just sports, which is why any high schooler could relate to this show. Friday Night Lights is a very emotional show that covers all the aspects of life that everyone goes through.

            The show takes place in a small town in Texas called Dillon. It’s a fictional town where everyone knows everyone, so everything gets around. Football is probably the most important thing in this area. Friday’s are the most important day of the week, not because it is the start of weekend, but because that is when the football games are. The Dillon Panthers are expected to be the best team in the state, but when one of their best players goes down with an injury, no one is sure if they can continue with their previous level of success. The main question the town is asking is: will the back-up quarterback, Matt Saracen, be able to lead this team to greatness?

         Although you may not be a big fan of football, that does not mean you wouldn’t love the show. The actors who play the characters are very talented and make the games easy to understand. There are also other elements to this show besides football like romance and the problems the characters may face in their home life. The main love interest is between Julie Taylor, the coach’s daughter, and Matt, the new quarterback. This relationship makes for some very awkward but funny conversations. It is surprising how well the actors seem to get along and make the show feel so realistic, as if it’s actually happening.

            The chemistry between the characters is phenomenal and is what keeps the show fresh for so long. With continuously new concepts arising in the show, nothing seems to get stale. The writers for this show have obviously done a fantastic job with creating an original setting while still making it feel like home. It is extremely relatable as well. There are many situations where characters go through something that the viewer could easily relate to. These can range from various things like learning to drive or studying for the ACT. The characters' different ages and situations make all of them unique in their own way.

            Overall, Friday Night Lights is an amazing and relatable drama that has an abundance of positive aspects with minimal flaws. The characters develop well as they grow up throughout the seasons. The show will continue to appeal to young adults for years to come. Friday Night Lights is an essential viewing for everyone regardless if you are a fan of football or not. It is a must-see.

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http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/feb/13/friday-night-lights
 

The Walking Dead: Is it Just About the Zombies? by Eduardo Hernandez

On October 31st, 2010 America’s number one show premiered. The Walking Dead is one of the most intense, gory, nail-biting series ever aired. It's not all about zombies and Rick’s breathtaking survival skills, however. Over the seasons, Rick’s group becomes closer and they act as if they are a family regarding all of their diversities.

The Walking Dead is about a zombie outbreak that is happening all over the world. There are two evils in this world: zombies and humans. Rick’s group bonds together to fight both evils to survive, because they only have each other.

To summarize the plot, in season 3, Rick’s group finds a few prisoners named Axel, Oscar, Andrew, Tomas, and Big Tiny. Rick kills Tomas after Tomas attempts to kill his group, and Andrew flees after the event happens. He later comes back to try and kill them as revenge but is shot by Oscar. Rick then accepts Axel and Oscar because he saw potential greatness in them, completely disregarding their past convictions. Rick's actions show the strong family bond that develops in the group. Carol is also a prime example of family. Rick forgives Carol in season 4 when she kills two people because they're sick and will infect others. Rick sends her away for her own safety, though, because he cares for her and doesn't want her to be killed because of her crime.

The Walking Dead exploits diversity in many different ways. Rick’s group is brimming with different ethnic groups, ranging from African-Americans to Asians. They’re all family and accept each other. They always have each other's back regardless of their nationality because family is not about the appearance of a person, but about their personality and morality. For example, you can have a brother that doesn't treat you like family even though he is blood, but you can have a best friend that will always treat you as family.

I would recommend watching this television show because The Walking Dead has a meaning behind the foul zombies; it's about how when you're stuck in a world of evil, the people who will be by your side no matter what is your family.

Morgan: “So, you out here because Carol is your friend?”

Rick: “I’m out here ‘cause she's my family.”

-Season 6, Episode 15


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The Walking Dead Season 6 Review by Logan Maddox

 Most shows are coming to an end with their sixth season; however, The Walking Dead is as alive as ever. The first episode of the season got 14.6 million views during its premiere according to Cinema Blend. Though these numbers are not record breaking for the show, they are impressive. The show’s biggest competitor for views is currently NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

 Outside of viewership the show has been pushing new boundaries. The two part season ended with the death of a major character. It premiered on October 11, 2015 and end on April 3, 2016. The first part of the season spanned over only a few days within the show. The first episode is about the group trying to lead thousands of “Walkers” away from the town Alexandria, however the show uses flashbacks to give the episode more length. The flashbacks are in black and white, and bring viewers back to days before the group is leading the walkers. It gives depth to what has happened in between the season. As the group leads the walkers away from the camp, another group called the “Wolves” attacks Alexandria. Everyone except Daryl (the man riding the motorcycle in the picture), Abraham, and Sasha return to Alexandria to fight back against the Wolves. At Alexandria the walkers break down the walls and overrun the camp. The remaining survivors in Alexandria are forced to fight back against the zombie herd. This is the end of the first part of the season.

 Two months after the attack, the community is struggling to survive. They are forced to rebuild the wall, while their food supply runs low. While looking for food, Rick and Daryl meet Jesus. Jesus is one of the leaders at the Hilltop. Rick and Daryl decide to trade for food with the Hilltop; however, when they learn that the Hilltop is being extorted Rick decides that he will kill Negan and the saviors, the people that are extorting the Hilltop. Rick and a group of his best fighters attack the saviors at night and kill everyone in the compound. The group thinks that they have killed all of the saviors; however, when they try to take Maggie to the Hilltop to receive medical assistance the saviors block all of the paths available. The saviors mentally provoke the group every time they stop them. When the group is caught, Negan makes demands to Rick, and then randomly chooses one person to beat since Rick has killed so many of his men. The season ends with Negan beating one the people in the group.

 The show’s ending caused the large question of: Who did Negan kill? However, asking that question is much easier than getting answer. The show runner Scott Gimple said, “I believe there is no way. There are a couple of things in there that might help people possibly kind of limit the amount of people who are vulnerable but I would say I would like people not to go down that route because I don’t think - I truly don’t think - there is a way to puzzle it all out definitively.” This did not stop the brave internet explorers.

A YouTube channel called CP Games has heavily examined the last part of the show. If you look at the picture you can see how Negan lined up the characters to choose who to beat. One scene in the showed Negan passing by Rick before he picked who he would kill. The shadow on Rick proves that Negan did not kill Glenn, Rosita, Daryl, Michonne, Abraham, Maggie, or Rick. This leaves us with only four characters remaining, however we can assume that is wasn’t Carl (Rick’s only son) because Negan said, “Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out, and feed it to his father.” Why would you cut Carl’s eye out if he is about to die? This leaves the list to only three. The show did not give more information on who would have been killed, however the comics do give some hints. In the comics, Negan was protective of women. In one of the comics where he was talking to a room full of his prostitutes he asked, “I ever hit any of you?” Due to this soft spot for women we can guess that he wouldn’t have picked Sasha.

The final two characters are very different. We have Eugene would have developed immensely over the season. Eugene has gone from a weak character who fears everything to a strong fighter that is willing to die for the group. The last character that changed this much in the show was Beth. Beth's character was built up for episodes before she died, similar to the way Eugene has been built up. The only evidence against Eugene was a picture that was posted on Twitter showing a wax figure of Aaron in the background, but the picture was quickly taken down after it was posted. This makes us guess that it was Aaron because the wax figure had a crack in the head that would show Aaron as being dead. The question of “Who did Negan kill?” will remain until the next season, but fans will continue to get closer and closer until season seven finally airs in the fall.

For another season review of TWD go here

Worst Ending Ever! by Tanner White

       Have you ever watched a show that did not end the way you had wanted it to? Many people who have watched How I Met Your Mother know this exact feeling. I have been a fan of How I Met Your Mother ever since the first episode I watched. The show has so many awesome scenes, funny jokes, and the perfect characters to play the part. However, you would think that the story would just be about how Ted, the main character, found his wife. Instead it follows his journey from college to modern day.

     HIMYM makes you wait nine seasons to finally meet the mother. (She is such an unimportant character that I do not remember her name). The scene when Ted finally does meet his kids' mother is beautiful and well-written, but only lasts for two minutes of a two-show finale. My guess is that the writers of the show forgot why they made the show in the first place! The mother ends up dying at the end too, so you never get to connect with her character. They never mention how she died, just saying, “she got sick.” HIMYM could have done a much better job incorporating the mother into the show.

      The ending also did not clear up Barnie’s divorce, his child, Marshall’s son, and many other things. First of all, it announced Barnie and Robin’s divorce after their perfect proposal and about three seasons of a solid relationship. Announcing the divorce was not the worst part; it was the fact that the show gave it about five minutes and did not really clear things up. Finally, we never get to see how the characters’ children turn out. As a viewer, you have to assume so much and interpret it yourself.

       One of the biggest mistakes that the show made was having Ted marry Robin at the end. Everybody was tired of the couple because they had already hooked up and dated multiple times. Fans of the show wanted Ted to meet his dream girl after all he had been through. The show is actually about how he met their stepmother. HIMYM had so much potential to have a wonderful ending; however, it did not. As a result of this, it will go down as one of the worst endings in television history.

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Nathan Scott

by Claire Hairrell

Nathan Scott is, in my teenage, A+ binge-watcher opinion, one of the most dynamic television characters I’ve ever had the pleasure to know – courtesy of the countless hours I've spent drooling over the greatest show of all time, One Tree Hill. Undeniably, Scott’s personality transformation through the course of the show dramatically affects the series as a whole.

In the beginning, Nathan is no more than a jock with poor grades, forced to love the game of basketball by his overbearing father. Basketball was the only thing that mattered to him. He let the game define him because it’s all he’d ever known. Scott had allowed a game to become the root of all of his dreams and aspirations. Everything he had ever hoped for was riding on his talent. Nathan was living the dream – he was the star player on his high school basketball team. Unfortunately, the school decided to hit “pause” on his life (basketball) when his grades began to suffer. He desperately needed to find someone willing to tutor him, in order to become eligible to play again. Scott decided to ask for help from Haley James, the best tutor at Tree Hill High. After initially refusing to help him, she eventually agreed. Changes in Nathan’s character began to flaunt themselves almost immediately after his first tutoring session. Even though the alterations in his personality were originally minuscule, they were enough to be noticed. Perhaps Nathan's most important adjustment was towards his half brother, Lucas. This change is one of the most important shifts in his life, and we have Haley to thank for it. The only reason she agreed to tutor Nathan was because he agreed to leave Lucas, her best friend, alone. Thanks to Haley, Nathan and Lucas end up having a great relationship.

These changes in his life, even this early on in the hit television show, majorly affected the way his life panned out. The way Nathan recognized that there is more to life than basketball allowed him to be grateful for the things that really matter. In later seasons, we see that these things include his wife and kids that he is blessed with. Scott’s entire life is changed for the better because of one girl, one tutor. Because of Haley James’ gracious personality that overlooked logic, Nathan is able to live the life that he never knew he wanted. He is able to live a life that doesn’t revolve solely around his basketball career, but around his family and friends.

Although Nathan begins the show as an arrogant, ungrateful, and hateful young boy, he transforms into a smart, kind, thoughtful, successful, and respectable man. Who says one person can’t change a life (or television series) for the better?

To read further on Nathan Scott, check out this article here